WEBVTT

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Many people are put off from investing because they think 
it’s too risky. But we take risks every  

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day in life and often make conscious 
decisions about what we do and don’t do,  

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depending on the chance of something going 
wrong or the potential reward we’ll get.

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So rather than just ruling investing out 
because you think you might lose money,  

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it’s worth taking some time to 
understand how likely that is and  

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what you can do to take a level 
of risk you’re comfortable with.

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There’s no getting away from the fact that 
you could lose money if you invest because  

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stock markets fall as well as rise, but 
there are things you can do to reduce  

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the chance of this happening. And if you’re 
not too worried about risk and stock market movements  

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you might be happy to take quite a lot of 
risk in the hope you’ll get better returns.

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The key is investing in a way 
that you’re comfortable with.  

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So what are the main things to bear in mind?

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Firstly, remember when it comes to 
where you keep your hard-earned money,  

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there’s no escaping a degree of risk. Even 
keeping it all in a cash savings account  

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isn’t risk-free. You won’t actually 
lose money, but its spending power can  

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fall over time if the rate of inflation is 
higher than the rate of interest you earn.

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Secondly, whatever level of 
risk you’re comfortable with,  

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a diversified portfolio is 
what you should be aiming for.

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If you only buy shares in a single 
company – which is what many people do,  

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especially when they’re starting out –
your returns are entirely dependent on  

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the successes of that one company, which 
makes it a high-risk strategy to take.

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A lower-risk approach is to invest in funds. 
With a fund your money is pooled with that of  

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other investors and then invested in a number of 
different companies, giving you that all-important  

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diversification. This doesn’t totally eradicate 
risk – but the diversification helps to spread it.

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You can create a balanced, diversified 
portfolio by putting your money into funds  

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that invest in different types of companies 
and different areas of the world. That way  

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they’ll all perform differently, so if 
some of your investments are struggling,  

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you’ll hopefully have others that are doing well.

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You don’t need to pick a large number of 
funds at the outset – you can build your  

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portfolio of investments over time. One year 
you might choose a UK fund where your money  

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is invested in a collection of UK companies. 
The year after you might go for a European fund,  

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US fund, a global fund, or one that invests 
in Emerging Markets and so on. You can also  

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invest in funds which focus on specialised 
sectors, such as technology or healthcare.

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Once you’re ready to look at investment options,  

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we offer different ways to invest which allow 
you to be as hands-on or as hands-off as you like.

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Barclays Ready-made Investments (RMI) is a range  

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of diversified funds that invest in 
different types of assets – shares,  

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bonds, and cash – and different regions. All 
you need to do is select the level of risk  

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you are most comfortable with. If you’re new 
to investing, these funds can be great as they  

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offer a simple way of getting started and 
provide you with immediate diversification.

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They’re not only for first-timers though – 
Ready-made Investments are also useful if you’re  

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short on time or would prefer to leave the 
task of selecting funds to the professionals.

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If you prefer to select own investments though, 
the Barclays Funds List is a great option.  

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Our list is made up of several funds 
from each of the investment sectors we  

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believe are key for building a diversified 
portfolio. There’s plenty of information  

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on each fund and its objectives – 
what it is and what it aims to do.

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So, whether you want to do it yourself or leave 
it to the experts, there’s hopefully a solution  

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to suit you. The key is to decide how much 
risk you’re comfortable with before you start.